Photography

I talked a bit about the Tour of Alberta in the Photo of the Day post for August 29. Yesterday I had the opportunity to be able to attend the race! The photos from the race will comprise the photos of the day for yesterday and today.

The race started at 4:50 p.m. and consisted of 9 laps of a predetermined route. In total it was 106.9 km or 66.4 miles.

Before the race began the bikers were warming up and getting ready for the race. Below are a few pictures of this stage.

It was exhilarating to watch the start and see how fast these athletes could pick up speed. For the first lap I stayed downtown and watched them round a tight corner just before the lap line. (Photos below)

For the next lap I went back to the finish line to see some of the excitement going on there. It was great to see everyone out supporting the racers from all over the world.

I found a great vantage point on the parkade beside the Lethbridge Center.

I headed down the course to get some pictures out of downtown. It was great to see people all along the course cheering on the bikers. ​I got a great shot of the leader with a big smile on his face!

Riding down along the course I saw a beautiful sight. A big Italian flag being flown! Having lived in Italy I was pretty excited to see someone cheering on the Italians in the race. Any chance to speak Italian makes my day!This spot was at the top of the King of the Mountain stage of the race. Bikers had to climb from the bottom of the river valley back to the top of Scenic Drive N. I did it on my way back up from taking pictures down in the valley and I was exhausted halfway up the hill, so doing that nine times is very impressive.

I road out to the top of the coulee hills to get a good view of more of the race. From here I was able to get a picture of the racers with the High Level Bridge in the background.

At the bottom of the valley it was perfect to grab some pictures. The roads had been closed off so there were very few spectators that were down there.

For the second last lap I went partway up the hill. They still were flying going uphill.

For the last lap I just continued partway up the hill. It was exciting to see the final push of the bikers during the last lap.

So in the end here were the results of the day:

Colin Joyce of the United States won the Sprint, Best Young Rider, and Overall Winner with a time of 2.23'18".

Danilo Celano of Italy won King of the Mountain.

Antoine Duchesne of Québec was the best Canadian with a time of 2.23'31", fifth overall.

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Hello readers! I'm Brian, an amateur photographer. I will be posting photos I take, reviews of products, and any tips I can offer to fellow photographers out there! I hope you feel welcome to read, leave comments, and create discussion! Check out other posts on my Niume account here: Brian Sloan Blog